


the kids aren't alright

by SnorkleShit



Series: I thought of angels (choking on their halos) [5]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Confrontation, Faunus!Cardin, dove is a human lie detector
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-20
Updated: 2015-01-20
Packaged: 2018-03-08 08:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3202829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnorkleShit/pseuds/SnorkleShit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dove's semblance is revealed, and everyone gets a look into what it means to be a wolf and a sheep all at the same time. </p><p> </p><p>Also, Ozpin is aloof and fucking on point at the same time, per usual.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the kids aren't alright

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to the #cardinredemptionteam2k15

Cardin walks forever, seeking out solitude, which has always been easy for him to find. He's always alone in some sense of the word, isn't he? He wants it more than anything right now, everything colliding inside him needs time to settle down. He wonders if he deserves this distress. He probably does. The strong hurt the weak. That's the way the world works.  
What does that make him now?  
_It just proves what he's always known. What he's been fighting against, what he's been trying to change his whole life. He is weak._  
He stumbles and catches himself on the wall, taking deep breathes.  
"That was quite an interesting class period, wouldn't you say?" Ozpin's voice said from somewhere behind him. He spun around, instantly guarded. This guy just materializes out of the shadows on a regular basis didn't he?  
"Don't mock me." He snapped, lashing his anger at himself outwards at others, as he always had.  
"I wouldn't dream of it. You're a young man who's been mutilated and abused your entire life. I only wish to help you rise above it. I think you can. That's why I made you the leader of CRDL." Ozpin told him.  
Cardin took a step back.  
"Abused? That's bullshit, you don't know-" he started to seth, but the look Ozpin pinned him with stopped his words in their tracks.  
"I know a lot more than you can ever imagine. I know there is goodness in you, and that's why I made you the leader. You just have to be strong enough to make it happen. It won't be easy."  
Cardin bite the inside of his cheek.  
"I'm strong! I'm one of the best fighters here! Everyone's afraid of me!" He declared, puffing out his chest a little.  
Ozpin chuckled. "Even if that were true, it's not a good thing, in this context. And you are a strong fighter. But i'm talking about a different type of strength. The strength to let people in, to let them help you be better." 

Cardin wrinkled his nose. "That's not strength, that's weakness."  
"Take my word for it, Cardin Winchester. You are very very wrong about that." He replied, before turning around and fading into the shadowy hallway. At almost the split second he was gone from sight, he heard footsteps behind him. His flight or fight instinct kicked in. Should he run, or turn to face what he assumed was a concerned CRDL?  
He turned to run when Ozpin's words rang through his head. Wouldn't running away from this prove how weak he was? Wasn't running away what he'd always done?  
He forced himself to stop and turn towards the people rounding the corner, and was surprised to see more than just CRDL. Seeing them immediately put him on guard, and he stiffened and let his angry mask fall down like a slamming window.

"What the fuck do you want?" He demanded.  
Pyrhha put her hands on her hips. 

"We're here to make sure your okay." She told him, sternly, but with unfamiliar eyes. It didn't make any sense for them to care. CRDL shouldn't care, let alone these tools.  
He balled his hands into fists again.

"Yeah, right." He scoffed. "This must really give you all a kick. Let me guess, you wanna see the scars? Wanna watch me cry? Well your out of fucking luck. Leave me alone." He snapped.

"We don't think this is funny! Nobody deserves that!" Ruby exclaimed, with wide, sad eyes.

"Why is it such a foreign concept that people care about your wellbeing? You may be a jerk but your just a kid like the rest of us. According to Jaune here, nobody is completely irredeemable." Yang told him. Cardin laughed out loud. 

"Are you kidding me? Says the people that ran away and left me to die. And Jaune only stuck around and saved me because he's a good guy. Reality alert: I'm not. I'm not a good person, I'm an asshole and I like it. It's my place, it's my roll to play and I'm gonna play it well and no abusive family or missing wings is gonna detract from my creed as an A level douchebag. So don't even try. In not redeemable, there's nothing good in me to redeem, I love what I am." He told them.

"You're lying." Dove dead panned.  
Everyone looked at him. Dove never talked.  
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Russell snapped.

"It's my semblance. I know when people are lying." Dove shrugged

"What? Then you knew he was lying about the scars?" Sky asked.

"Of course I did." He replied.  
Cardin stared at him.

"Wait, you knew what I was this entire time?" He demanded.

"Well, no. I know when someone's lying, but I don't know why, exactly how, or the truth behind the lie. I can sense the presence of truths and the presence of lies. Besides, I figured it wasn't any of my business. Most of the time, I don't give a fuck if people are lying. But for the record, Cardin is almost lying somehow. It's the reason I was so inclined to join his team. He's like nothing I've ever come across. I was fascinated, to be honest. Lying on so many levels, trying to convince himself he's telling the truth, so the intensity of the lies are always patchy and fluctuating and fragile. I always wonder what he's lying about, but I think I'm starting to figure it out." Dove shrugged casually. Cardin took a step backward, alarmed at the evaluation of himself. His skin crawled and his insides conflicted as they always did.

"The point is, I go along with bullying people and being an asshole because it's better to run with wolves than to be a sheep, regardless if the wolves are just sheep too scared to admit they don't like the taste of blood. Jaune's right. It's a cycle of pain. We try and enjoy our role as the abuser in some twisted sense of following the footsteps, of completing the cycle, of playing out the rolls. Part of me does enjoy it. I know it's wrong, I don't fight that like others might. But if I'm hurting someone else, it means I'm on top for now, which means less pain for me. It's the way it's always been. Breaking a cycle would take a lot of work and a lot of pain. The question of whether it's worth it..." Dove put his hands on his hips and shrugged again, and scuffed his boot against the floor. Russell and Sky made eye contact, and then looked away. The members of JNPR and RWBY the where present looked at each other and at CRDL with wide eyes.

"Shut up!" Cardin shouted suddenly, heart pounding. Everyone snapped towards him. He glared at Dove, and tried to keep his lip from trembling with the overwhelming emotions racking him. 

"You shut your mouth! You don't know anything! Stop talking like you've figured out the secrets of the world. You don't know anything about me! Nobody's hurt me! This is just who I am!" He declared. Dove didn't flinch back, just looked him over with sharp eyes.  
" _Lying._ " He replied smoothly, but the word hit Cardin in the gut like Nora's sledgehammer.

Suddenly, someone moved forward from around the corner, where they'd been listening- Blake and Weiss.

Blake fixed Cardin with a hard glare.  
"Didn't you just say you had an abusive family? And not to mention your wings where amputated without your consent. That sounds like being hurt to me. I'm not saying it justifies being a racist douchebag. But would you please stop trying to pretend your untouchable? Stop living in denial. Your as flawed, complex and broken up as the rest of us. Maybe more. You aren't strong, your just a liar. Your acting, and you've woven an entire stage of a life. But if you strip that away, if you face reality, what do you get, jerk? What happens when you face reality and stop living this dream you've made up?" She demanded.  
There was a beat of silence.  
Then Cardin forced himself to realign the illusion he'd convinced himself of, and grinned.

"Nobodies ever going to get the chance to find out. See you in class, losers." He waved, before turning and sauntering away.  
They did not follow.  
He didn't know why he was disappointment by that. The minute he turned the corner out of sight he began to run, and run, and run.

\----------

They watched Cardin go, tension in the air. Blake huffed. Weiss put her hands on her hips. CRDL didn't make eye contact with anyone.  
Jaune's shoulders sagged. "I'm just a hopeless optimist, aren't I?"  
Ruby shrugged. "I think you're onto something. I mean, being a hero isn't all fighting Grimm. Sometimes, the worst monsters you have to face are the ones inside of you. We've all got them. And I don't think it's ever okay to let someone face them alone, no matter what the circumstances are. That's what being a hero and helping people is about."  
Yang attacked her sister with a hug and cooed about how proud she was.

Pyrrha put a hand on Jaune's shoulder.  
"There's a reason Ozpin made you the leader."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
